Wish You Were Here
by DreamSeerXIII
Summary: Yuka buys a Pikachu doll. Suddenly Pikachu disappears. Suddenly Yuka's receiving postcards from all over. A Pokemon doll shouldn't be capable of sending mail from faraway places! Characters are all OCs. Read and Review!


**I had to delete my other Pokemon story. So I started a new one. The OCs here are actually from another story I'm working on.**

**Read and Review!**

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><p>They were in the mall that day, just leaving the coffee shop when Yuka noticed him.<p>

"Isn't he a darling, Mom?" she said, pointing to the object in the video game merchandise store across from them.

"Kinda cute," her mother, Norah, agreed. "If you like that sort of thing."

Yuka nodded. "Yes, I really like him. Let's go there and see how much he is."

"You're going to buy him?" asked Norah.

Yuka didn't listen. She scuttled straight toward the furry yellow object for a closer inspection. He had pointed ears with black tips, red cheeks, small hands and feet, and a tail that looked like thunder. He was very cute. Yuka just couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Can I help you?" asked the store owner approaching the mother and child from the counter.

"The little one," said Norah, "wants to know how much this yellow mouse is."

"Oh, he's called a Pikachu," said the store owner. "He's only ten dollars. You see, that Pikachu is the only one I have in stock. I actually sold him many times already, but he ended up coming back here in exchange for refund. I guess they didn't really like him. I don't know how those people wouldn't like such a cute little thing like Pikachu."

Yuka started tugging her mother's sleeve. "I really like him, Mom. Can I use my ten dollar bill and get him?" she asked. Earlier when they just arrived at the mall, Norah had given her ten dollars in case there was something she wanted to buy.

"Well, if you really want it, then sure." The mother turned to the store owner. "Yes, Yuka really wants that Pikachu. We'd like to buy him please."

The store owner nodded. "Certainly. I'll open the display window and take him out for you."

"Yay!" The little girl beamed. Norah smiled and pat Yuka's head.

After leaving the store, Norah treated her daughter to ice cream and they ate. They walked around the mall more. At the sitting area Norah glanced at Yuka and then realized.

"Where's Pikachu?"

Yuka gasped. "Oh, no! I was holding him just now!" Yuka felt like she was about to cry when suddenly she looked ahead. "Oh! There he is, Mom! He's sitting on the couch!"

And indeed he was. Pikachu was on one of the couches. Yuka rushed over and took him. "Weird, Mom," Yuka laughed. "How did he get here before we did?"

"I'm not sure," Norah replied. "But it's as if he jumped out of your arms and ran to sit down." And they walked on; Yuka made sure she was holding onto Pikachu tightly. Soon they left. In the car Yuka fell asleep holding Pikachu. The last thing Yuka remembered before falling asleep was the feeling of Pikachu huddling to keep warm, since it was winter and the car was cold, even with the heater on.

When they got home, Yuka just couldn't let go of Pikachu. Yuka and her mother spent time doing housework; Yuka holding Pikachu while sweeping the floor. And when they were done, Yuka had Pikachu sit on the couch in the basement and watch as she and Norah played a guitar game on the Wii until they were so tired their arms were on fire.

Another strange thing happened after Yuka and Norah ate dinner. Yuka went to the computer, of course carrying Pikachu, and played a sandbox construction game, trying to build a factory with the mods she had. But she just couldn't figure out how the pipes and wires worked so she went downstairs to go get a bar of dark chocolate, hoping sweet would make her brain a bit more active.

She had left Pikachu beside the computer and once she came back, she saw Pikachu sitting on the keyboard. "Hey, what are you doing, Pikachu?" she asked the furry electric mouse. She picked him up and put him back on the desk beside the computer screen. Pikachu just smiled just as he always did. She turned back to her game and realized it was not paused, and the wires and pipes were all arranged and connected. Yuka blinked, confused. She hadn't done anything. In her game she clicked on the lever and watched the machines digging into the ground, working perfectly.

"Did you do this, Pikachu?" she asked Pikachu as well as herself. How could a stuffed doll make the machines work? Yuka didn't believe it was Pikachu.

Pikachu gave her no response. He was still smiling joyfully.

The next day, since Norah was part-time nanny, a boy named Nick came over. He was just a year older than Yuka; eight years old. He wasn't like other little boys who were too playful to control. He was very calm and was very friendly and respectful. Yuka only knew him for three months, but the two of them played together and were already good friends. That day when he came, Yuka and Nick played with the teddy bears. It was then Nick noticed Pikachu sitting on the couch.

"That's a Pokemon, isn't it?" asked Nick. "Pikachu?" Nick was a very big Pokemon fan.

"Yes, it is!" Yuka nodded. "He's cute, isn't he?"

"Very nice," said Nick. "I like Pikachus too. Oh, wait a second! Pikachu isn't in my Pokedex yet!" Nick had made himself his very own Pokedex. He was a collector of Pokemon dolls and every time he got a new one he would open up the Pokedex and add the name of the Pokemon to it. So far he had 35 Pokemon added to the Pokedex.

"You have your Pokedex, don't you?"

"No, it's at home. But I'll add Pikachu when I get home. I have my camera, so can I take a picture of Pikachu now?" Nick always took a picture of the Pokemon with his camera he knew how to use very well.

Yuka smiled. "Sure! Go ahead."

So Nick got the picture and soon he went home. Yuka went back upstairs and came back down with Pikachu. "Maybe if I just left him here," she thought. "Pikachu can be like a watchdog. Nick said he knows a move called Thunder Shock, so Pikachu can shock thieves!" She went to the children's playspace (the living room) and put Pikachu at the very top of the shelf where Norah kept books and toys for Nick and other children when they came.

"There now, Pikachu," she said. "You okay up there? Don't worry, I won't forget about you."

Pikachu's smiling face seemed to say, "I won't forget about you, either." And so for the next few days, on her way downstairs, Yuka would always look at the top of the shelf to make sure Pikachu was okay and still there.

It was a week later when Nick came back.

"Yuka's in her room," Norah told Nick. "She's playing the computer. I'm preparing some fish for lunch, so you can go and play with her until it's done."

"Thank you, Norah." Nick was heading for the stairs when he saw Pikachu. Nick went upstairs and knocked on Yuka's closed door.

Yuka opened it. "Oh! Hello Nick!" she said happily.

"Hello, Yuka," said Nick. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Did you see Pikachu at the top of the shelf? I put him there a week ago to ward off bad guys."

"Oh, right, speaking of that..." Nick gulped. "I was wondering, did any other people come here?"

"No... only a few," Yuka shook her head. "Why?"

"Look what they did to your Pokemon."

Yuka followed Nick downstairs into the playspace. There on the hardwood floor was Pikachu, lying face first on the ground. It seemed as if someone had knocked him off his post on the shelf.

"I didn't see that before!" Yuka exclaimed. "I didn't notice that. Maybe it was because I barely looked at Pikachu yesterday because I had to play with the other kids that were here."

"Well, maybe while you weren't looking, they used this," Nick picked up a toy slingshot on the ground. "and grabbed the Angry birds toys," he inspected the toy birds on the floor. "and shot them up so that they could hit Pikachu and make him fall so that they could play with him."

"Oh my poor Pikachu!" Yuka bent down and held Pikachu, who still smiled. "Are you okay? You saw the people, right? Who did it?" Pikachu still didn't respond. "Was it the Allen brothers?" Yuka asked. "They were the ones who came yesterday."

"Yeah, it was probably them." Nick nodded.

Yuka and Nick while eating lunch had once discussed things that were going on in the house. For example, Yuka's room was broken into, her teddy bears and books had been thrown around and her blanket crumpled. Two of Yuka's artwork was vandalized in the basement. In the washroom there was white finger prints on the mirror. All sorts of mess the Norah and Yuka had to clean up. Yuka realized it wasn't fair to blame the Allen brothers for all this, but Nick had told her he went to the same school as them, and they were always shouting and making a mess with things as well as take other classmates toys and not give them back. Norah and Yuka both agreed the Allen brothers were too restless and always ran around the house, laughing a lot, throwing things, teasing Yuka even though she didn't really listen to them. It was hard to believe they were not behind the mischief.

So Nick and Yuka put Pikachu on the couch while they played Kirby's Epic Yarn on the Wii. Later that day, Norah told Yuka that Nick's parents were unable to come pick him up so Norah had to drive him. Yuka agreed she would be okay alone in the house for a little bit. When Norah and Nick left, Yuka took Pikachu and used a stool to reach the top of the shelf. She put Pikachu back on his spot.

"Just make sure no one hits you again, okay Pikachu?" she said as she climbed down from the stool.

The Allen brothers and Nick came two days later. Yuka made sure to hold on tightly to her keys, one to her room and one to the basement, while the brothers were there. Nick brought a small backpack carrying his Pokedex, camera, and Nintendo 3DS, and held the backpack everywhere he went as Yuka and the boys ran all over the place. Before the boys could go crazy any more, Norah managed to get them to eat lunch.

That evening Yuka went back to the playspace to find Pikachu on the floor again along with the Angry birds and slingshot. "This is too much!" she said furiously. "Too much! I'm going to put an end to this!"

The following week she went right up to the Allen boys and said, "Hey guys, please forgive me for being mean, but I know you've been hurting my Pikachu."

The boys blinked. "Pikachu? You mean the Pikachu that sits on the shelf."

"That's right, and since Nick and I barely spend time in the playspace, so you must the ones hitting him with the Angry birds."

Jefferey Allen replied, "Norah said we're not allowed to throw things anymore. Why would we hit your Pikachu?"

Alex Allen said, "Yeah! We never did such a thing!"

"I shouldn't believe them," Yuka thought. "But then Norah WAS told by Mrs. Allen despite the fact the boys are playful, they're honest."

The next day, after Norah left to drop off Nick and the Allen boys, Yuka found Pikachu gone. She searched all around the house, in the cupboards, on the shelves, under and behind the beds, tables, couches and armchairs, but Pikachu was nowhere.

Norah came home to find Yuka crying in the basement. "What's wrong, Yuka?" she said as she rushed over to her daughter and hugged her. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Pikachu is gone," the little girl wailed. "I looked everywhere but I couldn't find him."

"Oh no! That's terrible!" Norah comforted Yuka and took her upstairs where she gave Yuka an ice cream sandwich. Yuka stopped crying and ate the sandwich quietly while Norah called Nick and the Allen boys to see if they had accidentaly taken Pikachu home with them. Neither of them had Pikachu. Norah sighed as she returned the phone to the receiver. She sat next to her daughter on the couch in the living room.

"Don't worry, little one," she said gently. "You'll find Pikachu. Soon, very soon. Maybe when we go to the mall again, we'll see if the store has another Pikachu."

A few days passed, and Yuka started eating snacks and reading or playing a game on the staircase. When she did so she would tend to look up and stare sadly at the spot where Pikachu used to be. Darn it, she missed him, just as if he'd been a real Pokemon, a Pokemon who just suddenly ran away from his Trainer. Maybe he was a real Pikachu. But then why did he suddenly disappear? That question was stuck in her head, and she couldn't find an answer.

Yuka woke up early on Saturday morning. She got up and brushed her teeth and changed her clothes. She went downstairs. Her mother hadn't woken up yet. Yuka decided she might as well do her mother a favor by checking the mail, and then she can prepare breakfast. She walked to the door and picked up the newspaper and package of mail and sat down at the kitchen table. All of the mail except for one was from her mother's work. Yuka put her mother's mail down and stared at the last one. It was a postcard with a wonderful view of her own city, Vancouver. Yuka admired the picture and then flipped the postcard over and read the round, childish handwriting on the back.

"Dearest Yuka, my beloved Pokemon Trainer," it read. "Watched a dolphin do tricks at the aquarium yesterday. Spectacular! Love, Pikachu."

Yuka gasped, not knowing whether to feel shocked or amazed or scared. Perhaps all three. Her heart pounded. Was this really from her Pikachu? It might be a trick.

When Norah woke up Yuka had finished making pancakes. They ate while Yuka showed Norah her mail.

"I'll read these later." Norah yawned. "Hey, what's that? A postcard? Where'd you get it?"

Yuka let Norah look at it. "It says it's from Pikachu," she explained. "It might be, now that I think about the other times Pikachu seemed like he was alive."

Norah shrugged as she put the postcard down. "Maybe." She seemed to not take it seriously. "Don't pay attention to it. It's probably a trick. If you get another one, let me know."

Yuka agreed. And later that morning she went to her room and slipped Pikachu's postcard between two of her books. Just in case he was real, she had thought to herself. It would be mean to Pikachu if she threw it away.

On Monday, Yuka opened the door, expecting the mailman. The mailman came, but he was not alone. A familiar boy was walking with him.

"Hi, Nick!" Yuka rushed over. "What are you doing?"

Nick smiled and explained to her that the mailman with him was his uncle and he was helping him with his work, and he'd just started doing it on the weekend. Yuka nodded, full of admiration for Nick, for it was something good for a child to have something good like that to do.

"Oh, yeah," said Nick. He pulled a postcard out of the mail package and gave it to Yuka. "This one's for you."

"Oh no, not again," Yuka thought; she knew who it was from. She observed the picture of the CN Tower in Toronto then read the message.

"Dear Yuka, it's been a amazing trip," the message read. "I threw a paper plane from the top of the tower! It was cool! Love, Pikachu."

"It's rather fishy, isn't it?" said Nick. "Your Pikachu is a real one? How could that be?"

"Well, if it's a joke, it's not funny," Yuka frowned.

It seemed Nick wanted to say something, but then his uncle called him to come along. "I'd better get going," he said. "Bye now."

When Yuka went inside she decided not to tell Norah she received another card. She put the new postcard beside the other one.

As the days went on, Yuka felt nervous every time she woke up early in the morning. One thing would be in her mind: where is Pikachu now? She would go out and give Nick and his uncle a cheerful greeting, then when she went inside she would anxiously go through the mail. To her relief no more cards arrived, except one from Norah's parents. Yuka was just beginning to forget the whole thing when she got another postcard on Thursday. The picture was a beautiful view of the palace of Versailles in France.

"Dear Yuka, here I am in France. The palace is so wonderful! Marie Antoinette's dresses aren't as pretty as yours. Love, Pikachu." Yuka decided to pour herself some fresh hot cocoa. Made in France, she noticed with a tiny shudder. Now she was certain there would be more cards.

The next morning she found another postcard. "Nick!" she called as he started walking down the sidewalk.

"Just a minute, Uncle," Nick called to his uncle as he raced back to the worried seven year old girl. "You look pretty shaken," he said to Yuka. "Bad news?"

"Well..." Yuka stammered. "Actually... can you read this postcard for me?" He gave her a weird look but nodded. She gave him the card that had a picture of the Sydney Opera House with its colourful lights on at night.

"Dear, Dear Yuka," Nick read aloud. "I'm here now in Sydney. Never thought I would make it this far. Australians super friendly. Love, Pikachu." Nick blinked and gave it back to her. "Funny sort of message. Why's it signed like that?"

"I just..." Yuka said. "I'm just really starting to miss Pikachu now. What's he doing anyway on the other side of the world?"

Nick shrugged. "Well, don't worry about it Yuka. It might not be Pikachu, so all you've got to do is pay no attention to it. It's just someone trying to scare you, eh? Well how about this. I'll look out for anymore cards, and then I'll just separate it from the rest of Norah's mail and give it directly to you, just like what I did Monday, so that you don't get a scare. Like, I mean finding it at the door."

Yuka murmered her gratitude and went inside. She decided she might as well admit to Norah that she got more cards. She cooked some potatoes and corn beef with rice to eat for breakfast. When Norah came into the kitchen to eat, Yuka told her about the other cards and how she felt about them and Pikachu being gone.

"What a dirty trick!" Norah gasped as Yuka explained everything.

Yuka nodded. "Yes, from all this I'm feeling, I'm ninety-nine percent sure now this is all just a prank."

Norah was surprised. "Only ninety-nine?"

"Because for me, Mom, it's still possible it's really Pikachu. But then if it is a prank, where is Pikachu? Where has he REALLY gone? I miss him."

Norah just gave her the same sort of reassurance Nick had given her. "Well, don't worry about it. I don't know anyone who would do such a rotten thing to you. Look, you've gotten enough cards. Let me know when you get one more, and I'll call the police. Come along now, we should distract ourselves with a video game or board game. And later we'll bake a bunch of stuff to take to my friend's potluck next week."

That made Yuka feel a lot better, since she enjoyed doing things with her mother such as baking and playing games. She cheered up completely as she and Norah made cow cupcakes and cinnamon twists. She beat Norah in a game of chess and a card game of Speed. They even took two Nintendo DSs and battled each other with Pokemon. Though Yuka had a happy face she felt sad inside when she saw Pikachu on her screen.

That night Yuka had a strange, mixed up dream. She had gone downstairs the next morning to see that her Pikachu had come back, but when she looked back at the shelf it wasn't a Pikachu doll at all, but a real Pikachu swinging his feet that were hanging over the edge. Yuka stood on the stool and held out her hand smiling.

"Come on, Pikachu. Mom baked cupcakes, so you can come have some," she said, her voice bouncing off the walls and floor.

Pikachu gave her a sad look. "I can't, Yuka," he said. "I'm too far away. I'm lonely. Help me, please!"

"Pikachu? Pikachu!" Yuka cried as the world around her grew smaller, and Pikachu's voice became squeakier and he grew smaller until she couldn't see him anymore. Yuka woke up, stunned from the dream. She looked at the clock. It was 7:30 am. It was Saturday.

Yuka went downstairs just in time to answer the knock on the door.

It was Nick. "Fact is, Yuka, there's another card," he said handing it to her.

This time it had a picture of Niagara Falls. "Yuka, it's been a wonderful trip. I miss you very much. Love, Pikachu." Yuka was trying not to sniffle, but she was not successful.

"This... This... is beyond a joke!" she snapped. "Nick, you go on with your route with your uncle. Once Mom wakes up, I'm calling the police."

And Norah woke up just a few minutes after Nick left. Yuka told Norah the news right away. "Let's eat breakfast first," said Norah. "And I'll call, okay?" So they ate.

A police officer came to the house just half an hour after Norah called. Norah had Yuka tell the officer everything, and she took the postcards she had and showed them all to him.

"Isn't this ridiculous for someone to take a mere child's toy and start scaring its owner like this," said the police officer.

"Yes, it is," said Norah. Yuka just nodded.

"Well, I can see how you'd be upset. Can you think of anyone who has a grudge against you?" the police officer asked Yuka.

She couldn't, and after some more questions he left with another reassurance. "Don't let this hurt you too much, little one. If you see any suspicious people around here in your neighbourhood, let us know."

It was just the next day when Nick came to the door looking shamefaced as he held the next postcard. "Earlier I read it. I suppose I shouldn't have. Do you want me to stay while you read it?"

Yuka shook her head grinning. "I'll be okay. Thanks Nick. You're a good friend." Nick just grinned back and sped off to catch up with his uncle. Yuka went back inside her house and sat at the kitchen table. The postcard had a picture of a wheat field near Calgary. Yuka took a deep breath as she turned the card over.

"Dear Yuka, my Pokemon Trainer and my best friend in the world," said the message. "I love you. I miss you. I wish you were here."

Yuka realized how much she missed Pikachu too, and she felt tears running down her cheeks. "Please," she weeped. "Whoever is doing this, leave me alone!"

She put up a cheerful face as her mother came downstairs. After breakfast Yuka went to the basement and played with modeling clay to distract herself. Once she got bored of it she went back upstairs to her room and turned on the computer to play her sandbox game until it was time to eat lunch. After lunch Norah invited her to the basment to play Super Smash Brothers. Yuka defeated Norah in half of the battles. Until it was dinner time Yuka stayed in the basement to clean it up and rearrange her artwork. That night, Yuka couldn't sleep, so she turned on her lamp and read a few books. It was ten o' clock at night when she grew extremely tired so she stopped reading and finally went to sleep. She found herself waking up at seven in the morning again. She got dressed and went downstairs to find the mail at her door. Yuka took the mail to the kitchen table. Good, there were no more cards.

Nick came over later that day. He hadn't been here for a long time, Yuka realized. She played with the teddy bears with him and they laughed at each other's jokes.

"Oh, yeah," said Nick. "I was wondering if you're feeling okay. You know, with the postcards you're getting and all that stuff."

"I'm feeling a bit ill," Yuka admitted. "I don't mean like the feeling of the fever, but just a feeling in my head and stomach."

Nick nodded. "Hey, can I tell you something?"

Yuka leaned forward, ready to listen.

"I know exactly how you feel about this," said Nick. "I mean, I remember once my older sister in university tricked me into thinking fairies were real by pinching my toes and leaving VERY tiny notes by my bed saying I was a sneaky boy. The notes also said I was like them by saying I can be mischievious on the inside but look normal."

Yuka didn't really understand what he was telling her, but she nodded.

"At first," Nick went on quickly. "I was scared like a flock of birds were all going to take a dump on me. I think it was three weeks that passed already before I found out it was my sister's prank."

They went to the kitchen where Norah had prepared some macaroni and cheese.

Nick continued his story. "It was a dirty trick I tell you. It was a very dirty trick. I actually kept the notes."

"Can I see them?" asked Yuka.

Nick smiled and opened his bag while Yuka peered in, noticing there was something yellow inside. Nick took out a piece of paper that had smaller pieces of paper glued to it. Yuka inspected the notes.

"They certainly do look scary," she commented, laughing.

They played a video game in the playspace. Nick suddenly stood up saying he had to use the washroom and ran... why upstairs? Yuka waited for him to come back so that they could keep playing. Nick came back and Yuka changed the game to a dancing game, and they played until five o' clock in the afternoon. Nick had to be picked up by his dad. Yuka waved cheerfully as he started packing up to go home. At the door, Nick waved too.

Yuka was in the kitchen when Norah returned from the door carrying something. Yuka saw what it was and she shrunk back fearfully. "Another one?"

"Nick wanted me to give it to you," Norah said as she put the postcard in front of Yuka. "Told me not to read it."

They ate dinner and Yuka ran upstairs to her room. Closing the door behind her, she went to her bed and sat down, staring at the new picture of Vancouver. Yuka slowly turned the card over. The message said, "Yuka my best friend, I've had so much fun, but now my adventure is done. I'm coming home. Love, Pikachu."

Just then it hit her as she nervously lay down. Two things were trying to come together in her mind. Memories Yuka barely recalled suddenly came back to her.

First thing: Yuka suddenly wondered why in the mall a few weeks ago, she decided to put Pikachu on another couch and leave him there. She wondered why she DID know about the mechanics in her game and after arranging it all she put Pikachu on the keyboard. Was it because she WANTED Pikachu to be real?

Second thing: Nick was the kind boy who was her best friend. But she remembered him having the need the wash his hands when the mirror in the washroom had handprints on them. She remembered him having red smudges on his fingers the day when Yuka's clay art was dented with a red pastel. She remembered his hands smelling like metal when Yuka's key went missing and her room was broken into. He was an innocent boy who never did anything mean to people. He was nice.

At least, that's what she thought.

And now she knew what Nick meant to say when he told her about his sister's prank. She knew what the yellow object in his bag was. She knew one reason why he started helping his uncle with mail. Everything was making sense now.

The next morning Yuka stayed in her room. From her window she watched Nick and his uncle walking down the sidewalk to her house. The tiny hairs on her neck tingled. She sensed someone else watching her. She wheeled around to look at her computer table, and at that moment she was overwhelmed by joy. She couldn't believe she didn't notice before.

Her beloved Pokemon Pikachu was back. His smile had the same insolence he had when she had first seen him in the mall.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed reading, people!<strong>

**Just to let you know, what I was illustrating in this story was that people tend to be different from what we believe them to be. It happens to me all the time. I have a first impression of someone, and suddenly that view changes. Have you experienced something like that before?**

**Did you like this story? Please review to tell me!**


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